Patrick Renames Ceremonial Guard Unit to Honor 54th Mass

06:50PM / Saturday, November 22, 2008Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick participated in a State House ceremony on Friday marking the redesignation of the Massachusetts National Guard Ceremonial Unit as the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment.

The unit was reorganized in honor of the state's famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first black regiment raised in the North during the Civil War and authorized by Gov. John Andrew in 1863. The regiment's best-known action was the charge on Battery Wagner in South Carolina, which killed its young leader Col. Robert Gould Shaw and saw the Medal of Honor awarded to Sgt. William Carney.

Photos courtesy governer's office

Gov. Deval Patrick awards campaign streamers Friday to Guard units for their duties in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo at a ceremony in Nurses Hall at the State House

The regiment was featured in the film "Glory" and memorialized in a bronze relief by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens a century ago.

The change was prompted by National Guard leader Maj. Gen. Joseph Carter, the first black to lead the Massachusetts National Guard, and designated by Patrick, the state's first black governor.

Patrick also awarded campaign streamers to 31 Massachusetts Army and Air National Guard units returning from service in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.

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Dalton Special Town Meeting Rejects Land Buy for Police Station

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
09:29PM / Monday, October 19, 2026

Voters hold up cards to be counted on a vote to cast secret ballots on purchase of land question. Voters rejected the land purchase but authorized buying electronic devices for future voting.

DALTON, Mass. — A special town meeting on Monday night authorized 11 of 12 warrant articles, only nixing a contentious proposal to buy land for a police station.

After nearly an hour of discussion, 113 voters rejected by secret ballot the purchase of land on West Housatonic Street for $69,700.

Article 2 needed two-thirds to pass, and failed 65-48, about 10 votes short.

A motion was made by Robert Collins for the article to be voted on by secret ballot to ensure ballot privacy, which was approved by 72-19.

Town officials have been debating options for a new police station for more than year, focusing on several parcels that could host a new building and, more recently, the possibility of a combined fire and police station. These included the West Housatonic site, another on Main street and the vacant Dalton High lot next to the Senior Center.

Resident Adelard Nadeau Jr., who previously served on the Fire District's Prudential Committee, argued that the town is spending money that it does not have.

He advocated for the lot by the Senior Center which he believed to be cheaper and shovel ready.

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